A six-member special team comprising five from the Central Bureau of Investigation and one from the Income Tax department was on Thursday constituted by the Supreme Court to examine the contents of tapped telephonic conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with politicians, corporate honchos and others.
Ratan Tata on Friday told the Supreme Court that the tapped telephonic conversations between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and top politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen, including himself, were leaked to the media because of corporate rivalry.
With the managing director out on bail & being questioned in relation to the 2G spectrum scam, the company is still not out of the mess.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who was at the receiving end in the tapped conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, on Wednesday wondered how she came to prominence and what was her claim to fame.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Centre over leakage of its tapped conversation of former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia saying its probe report is hardly satisfactory.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday moved a Delhi court seeking permission to place on record a CD of 62 intercepted telephonic conversations of former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with various persons in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case.
The Supreme Court sought the Centre's response on a plea for disclosure of the entire contents of corporate lobbyists Niira Radia's conversation with politicians, journalists and corporate tycoons, which were tapped by government authorities.
Former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia was Tuesday warned by a Delhi court for "evading" questions relating to the 2G spectrum allocation case in which she is considered as a "sensitive" and "important" witness.
Legal battles involving corporate czars like the Ambanis and Tatas figured prominently in the Supreme Court in 2010, but it was the Niira Radia controversy that threw the light on the corporate prowess in certain quarters of the government, already under fire over a telecom scam.
Critical of the "unauthorised" release of tapes of his conversation with PR consultant Niira Radia, the US $ 73 billion Tata group chief Ratan Tata may move the Supreme Court on Monday to seek action against those behind the leak.
DoT has sought "necessary details" from the Finance Ministry to take action in this regard.
Lawyer R K Anand will move the Delhi High Court, seeking vacation of the stay on circulation and release of his book Close Encounters with Niira Radia.
The government on Thursday filed a report in the Supreme Court saying it has been unable to find the source which leaked the tapes containing conversation between corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and others including Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata.
Observing that tapped telephonic conversations between Niira Radia, politicians and others prima facie revealed "deep-rooted malice", the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into six issues relating to corrupt practices being adopted for private gains.
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata on Monday moved the Supreme Court in connection with the Nira Radia tape controversy.Tata has urged the court for a restraint order on the publication of the tapes of his conversation with corporate lobbyist Nira Radia.He also sought action against persons responsible for the leakage of the tapes, claiming that unauthorised publication of the tapes was a violation of his right to privacy.
In corporate or military warfare, the rules of the game are the same. An opponent could attack the General first in the hope that if he falls then the army gets demoralised.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice H L Dattu said it was of the view to segregate the issues in two parts as otherwise, it would be an unending exercise.
The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hold final hearing on a day-to-day basis from April 19 on Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata's plea to bar online portals and electronic media from airing his phone conversation with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia tapped by the Income Tax Department.
Appears before PAC, admits voice in Radia tapes his, but denies influence over Cabinet formation.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday alleged that the taped conversation between former Telecom Minister A Raja and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia shows that the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram played a role in the 2G spectrum scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday registered eight more preliminary enquiries in connection with issues related to intercepted phone calls of lobbyist Niira Radia against former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, Reliance Industries Limited and others in separate cases.
Claiming that the Central Bureau of Investigation had "overlooked" the role of Ratan Tata and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, an application has been moved in a Delhi Court seeking further investigation into the matter.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pulled up government agencies for not taking action on the basis of taped conversations of former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia with top politicians, businessmen and others which show various serious matters like cross-border transactions.
Former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia on Thursday told a special court that she had talked about Cabinet formation to former Telecom Minister A Raja and Dravida Munetra Kazhagam Member of Parliament Kanimozhi who are facing trial in the 2G spectrum case.
Former Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata on Thursday questioned, in the Supreme Court, the government's motive in tapping telephonic conversations of Niira Radia with top politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen including him, and suggested it might have been done for political purposes.
The Central Bureau of Investigation will soon register a Preliminary Inquiry to look into criminality in 15 tapped conversations of lobbyist Niira Radia with several government officials, as directed by the Supreme Court.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has informed Supreme Court that it has "so far" not found any criminality in the 14 preliminary enquiries registered on the basis of intercepted conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia.
With Ratan Tata watching proceedings, his lawyer on Wednesday pleaded for a direction from the Supreme Court to ensure that conversations tapped by government agencies in the 'Radia tapes' affair are not leaked and misused.
The Supreme Court on Thursday began in-camera proceedings in the former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia phone tapping case for knowing the Centre's stand and perusing "top secret" documents which formed the basis for interception of her calls.
An eclectic mix of Radias, Ambanis and Akulas hogged the headlines this year, with many an unfolding plot promising eventful corporate tales in 2011.
Etisalat DB Telecom chief executive officer Atul Jham was also questioned by the panel headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.
Public relations companies are telling their top executives not to go beyond the limited mandate they have received from their clients, even as many agencies with a large public affairs business agree that access to government officials has become difficult in the wake of the Niira Radia tape scandal.
Ratan Tata plans to move the Supreme Court against publication of conversations he had with Niira Radia, the corporate lobbyist. Vicky Nanjappa reveals how you can know if your phone is being tapped.
Radia, chairperson of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications and Tata, chairman of Tata sons Limited, have been asked by the PAC to appear before it on April 5 at 11 AM and 3 PM respectively to give 'oral evidence' on the subject 'recent developments in the telecom sector including allocation of 2G and 3G spectrum'.
Amid the raging storm over the Niira Radia tapes, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday said his ministry would hold discussions with other ministries to regulate corporate lobbying.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday sent notices to former telecom minister A Raja and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia asking them to appear before the agency for questioning while grilling former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chief Pradip Baijal in connection with the 2G spectrum scam.
Tainted former Telecom minister A Raja and Kanimozhi, daughter of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Karunanidhi, who featured prominently in the taped conversations that corporate lobbyist Niira Radia had are being relieved from the DMK's organisational positions in the wake of allegations on 2G corruption and their frequent conversations and "unauthorised claims " on the DMK's participation in Union Cabinet in 2009.
Tempers ran high and heated exchanges were witnessed as journalists on Friday debated the issue of media ethics in the background of lobbyist Niira Radia's tapped conversation with leading scribes, published by two weekly magazines.
In an interesting turn of events, the Public Accounts Committee Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi summoned two senior editors of newsweeklies to depose before the PAC in connection to the 2G spectrum scam. Vinod Mehta and Manu Joseph, editors of Outlook and Open Magazine respectively were interrogated about the transcripts of the phone conversations that corporate lobbyist Niira Radia had with others, which were carried in their publications.
On the back of recent controversies involving the release of Niira Radia tapes, allocation of 2G spectrum and alleged financial irregularities in the Commonwealth Games, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) plans to launch a "moral leadership" campaign to combat the rising incidents of corruption.